A systems view of biological health

Section 2: Theory

4 : Symbiosis - the body as an ecosystem

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Our existence is totally dependent on symbiotic relationships [8], to the extent that human identity is not rooted in DNA: As much as 90% of the genetic material in your body is "non-human".

All boundaries, transitions, interfaces are therefore not only boundaries that stop or reduce or regulate interactions – but are (also) always potential places of necessary connection, interaction, communication and transfer of information.

The 21^st Century Western techno-scientific culture we live in has adopted an Aristotelian reductionist mindset that applies separation as an investigative tool. The exclusive adoption of a very restrictive and polarised system of logic [1] – that is only one of many possible ways of thinking - has resulted in an experience of the world as a set of fragments that exist independently, and has given rise to a heavy focus on individual (undivided) id-entity. This fragmented way of seeing chooses to focus on the separation at the outer surface of your skin and purity of the human body based on cells derived from human DNA. This way of seeing separation and difference generates clarity but at the cost of not-seeing (i.e. not experiencing) many layers of inter-relationality.

However, it is also possible to adopt a different perceptual framework and see every boundary as a place where rich and productive communication may take place. The fact is that less than 50% [2] of the cells and DNA participating in this balance we think of as a human body are "non-human" – a symbiotic ecosystem (microbiome[3]) of bacteria, viruses, retroviruses, plasmids, parasites and other strange life forms we are only just beginning to discover. You might be surprised to know that apoptosis – the vital process by which cells commit suicide when they are damaged or no longer needed – is mainly organised by the mitochondria [4] that power your body that are not a part of "human DNA", and that are passed down only through the female line.

Boundary is a creative separation. One cell exists because it maintains a controlled internal environment, and that one cell divides to transform itself into a more complex "two-ness". The entire living world in all its glorious magnificent and unimaginable complexity has arisen as a process of Life dividing and separating itself to generate more relational complexity – so it can then interact to itself and the environment in increasingly creative ways. Planet Earth is a single organism that has an illusion of multiplicity of Life through making itself more complex. This complexity allows Life to fill more of the available space and to more efficiently use the available energy. That is – its appearance is only exclusively one of multiplicity if one has been raised and trained to focus on boundaries rather than connections, to discriminate differences, and to emphasise discontinuities.

Boundaries, transitions, interfaces not only stop or reduce or regulate interactions – but are (also) always potential places of connection, interaction, communication and transfer of information. The way we choose to "see" determines our expectations of what we will see—and thus determines what we experience and its interpreted meaning. In reality, we also participate in an equally present continuous ecosystem that spans from the organelles of a single cell out into the entire planetary biosphere. This may be intellectually obvious, but in Western cultures that use a noun-rich language structure it remains an idea rather than an experience – whereas separation is an experience as well as an idea. In contrast, the continuity of Life is a lived (embodied) experience in many indigenous cultures, as reflected in their relational, process and verb-rich language structures. Belief systems passed down generationally create cultural ways of seeing that become embedded in customs, language, patterns of sensing, relationship and behaviour, such that their presence becomes invisible except to an outsider, and children learn them as an unspoken a priori "truth" of existence.

Symbiosis in the total ecosystem is not necessarily beneficial for the individual. But the point is that there is an overarching balance that supports both an optimim diversity and an optimum utilisation and recycling of energy and other resources (trace elements, DNA, etc etc). So the same symbiosis in your body does not necessarily favour a particular cell, but the total arrangement of interactive processes and physical structures is maintained [7].

Some layers of symbiosis are more easily visible - such as the gut microbiota that research is only just uncovering. The human body is only about 50% "human" DNA (if one thinks of being human as purely the DNA transmitted via the cell nucleus of the distinct anatomical body). The other 50% keeps us alive, (as we know so far) having major influence on longevity, immune function, absorption and manufacture of nutrients, and regulation of emotional mood. Other layers of symbiotic relationality may be equally important but less visible...

Mutually beneficial symbiosis [5] presents some interesting questions to a human society that assumes humans are the centre of everything, always in control and are "distinct". There is a cultural tendency to assume that life is inherently competitive and antagonistic – but actually that kind of behaviour only occurs on a large scale when Health has already been lost. The Jena Experiment [6] is a set of 82 plots of land 20 m × 20 m with different pantain regimes, that has been observed for over 20 years. High biodiversity (over 12 species per plot) resulted in a lot of inter-species competition for the first five or so years, but then plants normally considered to be competitive started to behave symbiotically, supporting each other so as to maximise the total plot ecosystem health and diversity. Similarly, dogs were originally domesticated as a stone-age burglar alarm, protecting against large predators such as sabre-tooth tigers and dire wolves. They were an extension to our senses, and one function of modern pets may be to continue to give our survival-alarm system a sense of safety. Dogs are less aware of the dog-human distinction, have learned how to read human body language and tone of voice better than most humans, and so determinedly and lovingly inveigle their way into their rightful place in the human family.